Chapter 13: Monsters
The bark is lighter once we’ve broken off the outer layer and folded it into loose packets, but added to the weight of our already overflowing baskets it means I’m already sweating before we’ve even lost sight of the harvested trees. The torn blisters on my fingers sting, and the relief I’d felt at leaving behind all the nosy strangers on the other side of the wall is ebbing into frustration. The forest is dirty and busy enough in its own way.
I bump into Grace’s back and nearly drop my basket. “Don’t tell me you forgot something.”
She c***s her head, listening to the wind tossing the branches, or maybe it’s small, scurrying animals doing whatever mysterious rustling-type things small animals do, or—
Oh. I can’t believe I forgot to worry about the locked-from-the-i
